The Story Of Pashtun Our life was relatively good when Aziz Gul was still alive. It was during the time of the Soviet invasion that One Fateful Day my son was killed. We were at home when our neighbor The story of Aziz Gul’s death is neither unique nor exclusive. Totally unexpected deaths like his have ruined the lives of countless families in Afghanistan. Stories like his have been told in each corner of the country, though the sad truth is that people like Aziz Gul are never remembered by those who benefit from the existence of war. It is them who do not care about the suffering that war inflicts on its victims. These men enjoy igniting the fire of war and playing with it. They have chosen war as their way of life. The death of Aziz Gul was an absolute tragedy. For his family whose wishes and hopes for the future were inseparably linked with the fate of Aziz Gul, his sudden death meant the end of the world for them. When Aziz Gul died, all their dreams melted and the hell of misery and desolation opened its mouth to devour them. This in turn marked the beginning of the end for his mother, Pashtun, who was left behind with three children. In order to provide for them, she cleaned and washed other people’s clothes. Sometimes, in order to put food on the table she collected leftovers from wastebaskets. Other times, she and her children spent their days without eating at all. Until today, Pashtun cannot find words to describe her miserable fate. der. He had gone outside to water the field when a rocket struck. His father, brother and sisters started to cry immediately as we went to see his dead body lying on a wheelbarrow. Later on, my husband could not cope with his son’s death and eventually stopped working. He died five years later. After his death our lives got even worse. We lived in an abandoned house. At times, we even ate leftovers from the wastebaskets of others. I worked as a cleaner. Later on, my younger son started to work in the streets. Our survival was dependent on his income. When the Taliban burned my house in Shamali we moved to Kabul. I still work as cleaner today. My life is as bad as it was before. Consequently, I have psychological problems. The Memory Box Initiative: Seeking to Break the Cycle of Violence and Tragedy in Afghanistan The Memory Box Initiative: Seeking to Break the Cycle of Violence and Tragedy in Afghanistan 19 Aziz Gul was 15 years-old and already helped his aging father in his work. His father was happy that he would eventually become the main breadwinner in the family. One day, Aziz was watering his father’s field in Shamali, North of Kabul when a rocket struck and killed him. His father never came to terms with the death of his son and after years of struggling with the tragedy and its repercussions, finally died too. informed us about his mur- 20